TMNT Next Gen
by Gemmasketch
Summary: New York is at peace and has been for years. Unfortunately this means that mean that there is LITERALY NOTHING TO DO for 4 mutan hybrids living with their parents in the sewers. All they want is to prove themselves. To be apart of something... this is not what they had in mind Rated: T for occasional swearing and potential kissing
1. Introduction

The city of New York was wild. Emphases on the was. It had been over a decade since the krang had disappeared, the foot had been dismantled, and earth had made peace with the majority of species they had contact with. The disappearance of the pink brain-like aliens obviously meant no more mutagen as well and all mutants had settled into hiding. Now-a-days, things were incredibly boring… or that's what the 4 green teens that lived below it all believed.

The sound of battle echoed throughout the sewers. A loud slam was heard as a certain yellow eyed mutant was thrown on to his shell. He grunted through bared teeth before grabbing his attackers legs with his tail causing the now unbalanced, mint skinned, boy to fall backward onto his yellow hair. The first mutant flipped onto his feet, placing one of them on the others orange shirt to keep him down. His new found victory was short lived when another boy with a black haired buzz cut was thrown into him. The boy with blond hair whooped as he jumped up and flipped away.

"Eat it George!" He shouted through a smile before running off to get a piece of the fight going on between a red headed turtle mutant and a girl in a pony tail who was swinging a baseball bat a her.

George pointed a death glare at the boy who had not managed to get off of him yet. He let out a frightened 'eep' before scampering off of him and pointing a thin arm at a navy green mutant wearing a red jumpsuit.

"Rhonda-threw-me." He sputtered at lightning speed.

George shifted his yellow gaze to meet Rhonda's salamander-like emerald eyes.

"Oops." She said threw crossed arms and a sly grin.

"Hey! Stop ganging up on me! DAN!" The girl in the ponytail whined.

Dan got up from his spot next to George and edged around Rhonda as he ran to help his sister. Much to the black haired boy's dismay, the redhead mutant turned to meet him. He started to sweet as he lowered himself into a fighting stance. The mutant threw threw her staff out of her three fingered hand and assumed a pose similar to his own. Dan mustered up all the courage he had and threw a punch at her. She dodged and blocked but she didn't fight back. Dan tried again but was once again foiled. Dan threw strike after strike at her but to no avail.

"Quit going easy on him Bree!" His sister shouted as she blocked one of the blond haired boy's attacks.

"KATIE!" Dan yelled in distress, there was no way he would win against the red head if she went all out.

Bree turned around and stuck her tongue out at her best friend who smirked in response. Dan took this as an opportunity and tried to kick Bree in the back. She flipped over him, backward, grabbing the collar of his black ninja suit and forcing over his head. She landed behind him and swept him off of his feet. Once his is on cleared, Dan was met with the sight of Bree's caring brown eyes looking down at him. No doubt he was embarrassed but her smile made it a little better. She offered him her hand which he graciously took.

"That's enough training for today." She announced.

"Oh come on!" Katie whined again, "I was just about to kick Cody's butt!"

"Nuh-uh!" The blond boy insisted.

"Yuh-huh."

"If you two continue this I will kill you both." George cut them off.

He and Rhonda trudged over to them after their sparring session, that Rhonda had inevitably won.

"Fine. See you guys later." Katie said, grabbing Dan and dragging him behind her.

"Can't you stay for a few hours?" Rhonda asked, giving them her best puppy dog eyes.

Cody did the same and Bree bit her lip in anticipation. None of them, with the exception of George, wanted the twins to go so soon.

"Sorry guys." Dan responded "I have to watch Amber."

"And I've got a date with Ryder." Katie added.

"Again?" Bree asked through a giggle.

No doubt she was happy for her best friend but they just went out yesterday. Now it was Katie's turn to stick her tongue out.

"I'll try to bring Amber here if Mom and Dad let me." Dan told his hybrid friends.

They all smiled, including George. He didn't like the twins so much but he had a soft spot for their 10 year old sister.

The two humans grabbed their things and walked down a sewer pipe, waving as they went.

"Successful training period?" Leo's voice came.

The 4 teens turned to see their parents. Of course they had been watching. Bree didn't know if it was successful. It wasn't bad but there weren't any breakthroughs either. She just nodded in confirmation which caused her parents to smile. There was no doubt in Bree's mind that Donnie and April were proud of her; she just didn't know if she deserved that pride. She hadn't really done anything to earn being the leader. Even so, she was in charge now, she had a responsibility and wouldn't let them down. But a responsibility to what exactly? Like what was said before, there hasn't been a threat in years.

Authors note: sorry for the slow start.


	2. Friends

Splash. Splash. Splash.

Their rubber boots connecting with the soggy floor of the sewers echoed throughout the tunle. They trudged, tiredly, in the direction of their home, still in their sweaty ninja outfits.

"Why couldn't we have brought our regular cloths with us like we normally do?" Dan complained.

Katie just rolled her dark grey eyes at her brother's question.

"If I change cloths in the lair and walked home in them I'll smell like sewer when I'm on my date with Ryder and, in case you forgot, Ryder can't know about the guys." She shot at him.

"I know that!" Dan defended, "But just because YOU have to change when we get home doesn't mean I do!"

"Yeah, but I don't feel like suffering in damp training gear alone so deal with it."

Dan furrowed his eyebrows and gave an anoyed sigh. He doesn't know why he tries anymore.

They sloshed home in silence.

...

"We're home!" Katie called as she kicked off the sneakers she had swapped her boots for when they left the sewers. Dan did the same.

An exited squeel was heard from deeper inside the four bedroom apartment only moments before a 10 year old girl, with long black hair and eyes just like the twins, zipped around a corner and began running to hug her older siblings.

"Easy Amber! We're REALLY sweaty!" Dan warned.

Amber stopped dead in her tracks and took a sniff.

"Ew." She scrunched her nose and pinched it closed.

"Aye! Don't tempt me to get this stank all over you ya little rascal!" Katie warned with a smile and took a step tword her, reaching for her to emphasize her point.

Amber gave a playful shriek and hid behind Casey's legs, giggling, as he entered the room. Casey smiled and picked Amber up.

"Might wanna go shower and change Katie." Their father advised, "Ryder will be here in 20 minets."

"Oh crap." Katie relised.

She ran off to the bathroom, leaving the two male Jones's in an akward silence. Casey cleared his throat.

"Well... you know the drill." Casey spoke, passing Amber to his only son.

"Yeah, I've got this." Dan said.

His mother, Marissa, walked into the hallway, smiling. The grey-eyed woman kissed Amber on the fore head and gave her daughter a loving smile.

"Be good Kitty. Me and Daddy will be back at 9:00, okay?" She said.

"Okay mommy!" Amber replied.

Mr and Mrs Jones bid their children goodbye and head off to their date night. Katie emerged 15 minuets later, wearing a green sleeveless top, faded jeans, and a grey hoodie tied around her waist.

"How do I look?" Katie joked.

She struck a fake pose with one hand on her hip and the other in the shape of a gun.

"Awesome, beautiful." Came a voice from the door way.

Dan turned around to find none other than his sisters jock boyfriend, wearing a red cardagin. Ryder grinned and offered Dan a high five which he excepted awkwardly. Despite the other 15 year old being taller, muscular, on the football team, and looking exactly like the kind of guy who would give Dan a swirly, he and Dan got along relatively well. The shorter boy wouldn't really call them friends; he doesn't really have friends other than the cousins; but the green eyed red head was nice to him at least and Dan was grateful for that. Ryder leaned in to Katie for a kiss which she excepted.

"Hey, don't taint the child you two." Dan teased gesturing to Amber.

Said 'child' child giggled at her older brother's joke and Katie most likely would have flipped him off if Amber wasn't there. Ryder just laughed loudly.

"She doesn't mind. Don't ya?" Ryder joked, lifting Amber out of Dan's arms and ito the air with his big muscles.

Amber squealed with laughter and looked at Ryder with her big eyes.

"Can I come with you?" She asked.

Katie and Ryder said nothing.

"Pleeeeeeeeaaaaaase?"

Katie gave in.

"Why not?" She said, with a shrug, "We had enough alone time yesterday."

Amber cheered.

"Huh?" Dan questioned.

"Congrats Dan, you're off duty." His twin pat him on the shoulder as she said this and left the house with her boyfriend and sister.

"Wait WHAT!?"

Dan stood, stareing at the door.

Did that really just happen? He asked himself.

Well what should he do now? It's not like he had fr-

His phone buzzed, alerting him to a new text. He took out his phone and opened the chat.

Bree: what did Casey and Marisa say?

Cody: please say you can come over! Please please PLEASE!

Dan chuckled a little. Leave it to Cody to make everyone laugh.

Dan: Katie and Ryder took Amber with them on their date but I'm free.

Rhonda: Great! Can't wait to see ya!

Dan continued to text the mutant teens as he walked toward the nearest man hole cover, but not before he changed out of his ninja outfit. He walked down the street, silently laughing at an argument that George and Rhonda somehow found themselves in, until he crashed into someone. Dan hadn't opened his eyes yet but he could tell by the fact that he had flown over the person on his way to the ground that they were much shorter than him.

"Sorry..." a young male voice apologized.

Dan turned to look at the kid he had unintentionally bulldozed. He didn't look much older than the cousins, who were 14.

"Nononononono, I'M sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." Dan protested.

The lanky teen got to his feet and offered the smaller boy a hand. The boy pulled himself up and gave an embarrassed smile.

"It's cool. Neither was I."

He shook his messy brown hairbefore brushing off his beige hiking pants and 'Harry Potter' t-shirt. He picked up a bunch of books that he had dropped during the fall and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Daniel." He introduced himself.

Dan shook his hand.

"Me too." He replied, before adding, "I mean- Daniel my full name... everyone calls me Dan."

Thankfully, Daniel didn't seem to mind Dan's social awkwardness.

"I'm meeting my sisters at the library." Daniel stated, "Wanna come?"

Dan didn't know what to say. No had ever invited him to hang out.

"I... yes! I'd love to!" Dan responded, completely forgetting about the cousins.

Daniel smiled, revealing a tiny gap in his teeth. It was like Bree's only smaller and less adorable. Dan was blushing at this point but, thankfully, Daniel had turned around and started walking again. He was about to follow when he relised what he had done.

WHAT ABOUT THE GUYS!? His mind roared.

Dan took out his phone and started typing rapidly.

Dan: OMG I'M SO SO SORRY!

Dan: I'M HANGING OUT WITH FRIEND TODAY! Do you think I could call off coming to the lair? (I'm really sorry)

...

As she stared at the new messages on her phone, Bree couldn't help but feel a little disappointed; but she shrugged off. She was about to type a message, saying that it was okay, but George had a different idea for a response.

George: since when do you have friends?

Rhonda: GEORGE ISTG!

George: what? Everyone was thinking it.

Bree started typing aggressively in an attempt to defuse the situation.

Bree: Guys. Please. Not now.

Rhonda: fine.

You could almost hear the grumble in her text.

Cody: go have fun Dan! We'll be fine :)

Rhonda: what he said! 3

George: we don't need you to baby sit us.

Bree: ignore him. We're happy for you.

Bree thought of typing a few emodicons but decided against it. That would be weird, right?

Dan: thank you so much guys. I promis I'll spend time with you tomorow.

George: I don't care.

George has left the chat.

Rhonda: $%^^##! 54)**$ !#&^&&*&!

Rhonda has left the chat.

Cody: i tjink i here my dad caling

Cody has left the chat.

Bree: sorry Dan. I'll talk to them later.

Dan: It's okay. Thx for being so understanding.

Dan: 3

Dan: SORRYTHATWASWEIRDIGNORME!

Dan has left the chat.

Bree's face was a little pink as she red those last two texts. Ok, she'll admit it: she's in love with Dan. The hybrid has had a crush on her best friends brother since she was seven. Sounds cliche right? Girl falls head over heals for her child hood friend, they fall in love, blah blah blah, mariage and kids. Unfortunately for her, those kinds of things only happen in movies; and even if it did happen in real life, she's a mutant. Lame excuse, right? Her dad ended up with her mom, so why can't se end up with Dan? Simple, her mom wasn't completely human like Dan. Her powers are too dangerous and she has too many secrets to get with anyone else. Don't get her wrong! Bree is in no way saying that her mother settled for Donnie. They love eachother to the moon and back; but if she had never been exparamented on then things would have turned out much differently. Even after all that, April and Donnie were one in a million, at least in Bree's mind, so what chance did she have with Dan?

Okay, enough of that. Bree told herself.

She pushed herself off her bed and walked across the greenish grey floor, exiting her room. She opened the door to the lab and walked in, this caused a small, puppy sized, greenish-blue, salamander-like creature with light blue spots decorating it's back and tail, to stir in his sleep and wake up.

"Sorry, Mieko." Bree apologized for interrupting her friends nap.

She gave him a pat on the head. Mieko fully opened his irisless green eyes and jumped up, nuzzling into Bree's hand. He crawled along her arm and curled around the back of her neck before rubbing cheeks with her. Bree giggled and gave him another soft pat. She walked over to her unfinished exparements and started tinkering. That always got her mind off of things. She fiddled with a hologram projector that her aunt, Mona, gave her, fixed the micro scope, and started cleaning up a bit. After a few hours, her father walked in

"What ya working on?" He asked.

Bree turned to face her purple clad dad. He walked in and looked around the significantly neater lab, admiring Bree's handy work.

"Nothing really. I just need to do something or my brain will explode." Bree joked, letting Mieko off her shoulders so he could wander off.

Donnie laughed and ruffled her wavey, orange, hair.

"Don't I know the feeling."

The two nerdy turtles giggled a little as Donnie took his mask off and set it aside. Bree smiled. She had always liked how her father looked without his mask.

The two of them chatted for a while, making jokes here and there (most of them condsisting of uncle Leo and how terrable he was with machines).

"Bree, I actually came to tell you something." Donnie spoke.

Bree listened intentively. Donnie smiled.

"I'm really proud of you." He told her.

Bree nodded, "I know."

"I mean I'm proud of YOU." He tried again, "It's not just because you're leader now. I'm just... I'm so proud of who you've become."

Bree's face turned a little red. Her father didn't usually gush over her like this.

"... thank you..." Bree cracked a smile, "I was raised by some pretty amazing people."

Donnie laughed and pulled Bree into a hug. The 14 year old hybrid wrapped her arms around her father's shell and squeezed. They pulled apart and Donnie ran a big green thumb through Bree's hair before patting her on the shoulder.

"I wanna show you something, kiddo." He told her.

He walked toward the safe in which he kept the exparaments, that no one else was aloud to touch, and Bree's heart filled up with hope. Donnie started to open the storage unite. Was he really trusting her with his DO-NOT-TOUCH exparaments?! Once he got it open, he gestured for Bree to stay put as he went inside and returned with an odd canister. It was metallic and very tightly sealed sealed canester. Bree assumed there was some sort of serum or liquid like substance inside.

"What's that?" She asked.

"See for yourself." He responded, un capping the container and holding it out for his daughter to see.

Bree's reddish brown eyes went wide.

Mutagen.


	3. Sort of

Dan and Daniel entered the library, chatting about 'Harry Potter' and if 'The Cursed Chiled' was good or not.

"Like, part of me wants to like it, because it's Harry Potter, duh, but it just doesn't appeal to me." Daniel ranted.

"I know right? I wanted to get into it SO BAD but I couldn't bring myself to read passed a few chapters." Dan added, "I took so long trying to read it that my loan timed out and I just haven't bothered trying to borrow it again."

"Well, whatever you do, don't waste money buying the thing. It's cool and all but, in my opinion, it's not worth more then five bucks."

Dan nodded, with a smile. It was nice having someone he could talk about these things with. Bree liked to read, like him, but she was more into the knoalage type books insted of media litericher.

"DAN!?" They heard two girls call in unison.

Dan's eye's snapped to the source of the sound. Two 18 year old girls stood next to one of the computers. One sat in a chair and the other had previously been leaning on the table. They had similar factual structures, pale skin colour, and were both wearing purple sweaters. One of them had slightly darker hair and blue eyes. She wore her hair in a low braid while the other, with brown eyes and a lighter shade of brown for hair, wore her's in a high pony tail. They looked dumb struck as they stared at him and Dan looked the same.

"Dove?! Ella?!"

The two girls smiled in confirmation and ran over to trap the smaller, paler, boy in a group hug.

"Wait wait wait! How do you know my sisters?" Daniel asked.

"Oh god I'm such an idiot!" Dan scolded himself, "You're Daniel Ruth! Casadine Ruth's son! We're cousins!"

Daneil's light brown eye's went wide.

"Your Dan as in Dan Jones!?" He asked, "I can't believe I didn't recognise you!"

"Me either!"

"Give yourselves a break guys." Ella giggled, "You two were four and seven last time you saw each other."

True. They had both changed a it since then.

"How's Katie?" Ella continued.

Dan broke into smile.

"You guys wont believe this. She has a boyfriend now!"

"WHAT!" The Ruth kids exclaimed.

"Who!?" Dove pressed, "Tell meeeeeeeeee!"

"Ryder."

"Oh I know him." Daniel smiled, "He helped me out of a locker that one time."

Dan smiled. Ryder really was a good guy.

"What about Bree and the others?" Dove asked

Dove and Bree were pretty close as kids. Dan shrugged.

"Cody goofs around a lot, George and Rhonda are constantly at each other's throats..."

"So the usual?" Daniel joked.

Dan giggled.

"Oh! Rhonda came out as a lesbian a few days ago and Bree was made the leader." Dan informed them.

"Woah! Good for them!" Ella spoke with enthusiasm.

Someone cleared their throat, causing the four teens to turn to them. A man wearing a semi casual suit glared at them with his arms crossed.

"This is a library. Not the park. If you wish to be loud and socialize I suggest you do it else where." The man scolded them.

Dan's face heated up and he stared to sweat.

"R-right." He stuttered, "we-we'll go some w-where else."

His cousins looked at him in concern. He wasn't nearly this shy and anxious when he was younger (he was a little quiet but still). He turned to them, still shaking.

"Um- how about we head to the koibito (which means lair in japonaes)?" He asked them.

"YEAH!" They shouted, earning another death stare, "... we mean... yeah."

The kids quickly exited the library and ran through the street to find an entrence to the sewers.

...

"Is that Mutagen?" Bree asked.

My Dad looked at her, bewildered. She had never seen mutagen in her life. She wasn't exactly sure how she knew what it was... She just... did. Her dad didn't question it. Insted, he just shrugged.

"Kind of." He responded.

"Kind of?" Bree echoed.

He gave a gapy smile.

"Follow me." He said.

Bree did as she was told and followed her dad into the equivalent of a restricted area to the lab. She was only a few meters in when Metal Head zipped in front of her. He held out his robotic limbs 'ordering' her to stop. Bree did as was desired and looked expectingly at her dad. He grined sheepishly and pat the machine on his head.

"It's okay buddy. She's aloud to be here." Donnie told him.

Metal Head turned his head to Donnie, not moving the rest of his body, and then back to Bree. He brought his arms to his sides and opened them for a hug. Bree kneeled down to exept his, unintentionally, stiff hug before he made a happy noise and ran off to another part of the lab. Metal Head was kinda like the little brother Bree never had. Bree and Donnie continued forward. Bree made sure to take in as much of the tech and odd specimens as she could. She didn't know if this would be her only time in here but she wasn't taking any chances. Donnie steped up to a large 10 by 30 meter container and ripped off he sheet that covered. Bree's eyes became the size of dinner plates. It was FULL of mutagen.

"How is this here!?" Bree asked, "I thought all the mutagen was gone!"

"It is."

"Then how-"

"But only the mutagen from dimension X."

Bree came to a relization.

"Are you telling me this stuff was all harvested on earth?" She asked.

Donnie nodded.

"More specifically, right here."

He threw off another tarp and reveled a glass case, inside of which floated a strange, unworldly, organ that was conected to the giant vat of mutagen through a large tube. Bree stared at the strange, organic, object. She inspected it through curious eyes.

"Is that... thing producing the mutagen?" She asked.

"Yup." Donnie confirmed, "It's a mutagen gland from one of the dimension X worms that died in the invasion. I was able to harvest it and keep it alive for a few years before learning that if I fed it the right nutirians it would start screwing mutagen again. It only makes about one canister a month but if you save it up you can get loads of it."

"That's incredible." Bree spoke with wonder, "But... why? Wouldn't having exesive amounts of mutagen down here just be dangerous?"

Donnie snapped his fingers as if to say 'bingo'.

"That's why it's only 'kind of' mutagen." He told her.

she was about to ask what he ment when he suddenly plunged his hand into the smaller canister he had been holding.

"DAD NO!" Bree shrieked as she watched the ooz slosh around her dady's hand.

She squeezed her eyes shut, fully expecting to hear the gut wrenching sound of screams mixed with her fathers body reconfiguring it's self into a monster. No screems came. Insted, Bree felt a calming hand on her cheek.

"It's okay!" He insisted, "Look."

Bree hesatently lifted her eyelids, her terrified eyes looking to her father's mutagen covered hand (he had set the canister aside) before letting them dart to his face. He looked exactly the same.

"What-?"

"I'm so sorry!" Donnie interrupted, "I shouldn't have done that so suddenly! I just wanted to show you my point!"

Now it was Bree's turn to cut him off.

"You didn't mutate." Bree thought out loud, her voice a mix of relief and puzzlement.

Donnie looked at his hand, as if he had forgotent what he was apologizing for.

"Right. That's why it isn't like other mutagen." He spoke, still a little panicked from Bree's reacion.

She stared at him, hinting to continue. Donnie got the memo and cleared his throat.

"Remember how mutagen wasn't supposed to do what it did to mutants in the first place?" He asked. Bree nodded, so he continued, "That's because earth's sepret laws of physics, atmosphere, etc all messed with it's cells and chemical balance. This stuff is natuaral in dimension X, so do you think it would actually do the same thing it does to us to them?"

"So... because it was made on earth, and with different ingredients, this mutagen is behaving how it normally would in dimension X?"

Donnie smiled, regaining his comporter.

"That's my theory at least." He confirmed.

Bree's eyes filled with wonder.

"W-w-with this new substance at our disposle... THE POSABILITIES ARE NEARLY ENDLESS!" She shouted with glee, "And you're trusting me to help you with it?"

"Even better." Donnie told her, "I'm putting you in charge of it."

Bree's jaw hit the floor. Donnie held the canister of mutagen out to her.

"It's your exparament now. Do with it as you please."

It took five minutes of zipping between staring at her dad and staring at the mutagen but, eventually, she maneged to reach out her green hands and take 'her' exparement in her hands. She broke intoa gigantic, gap toothed, grin and squeeled with delight.

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" Bree chanted at lighting speed, hugging Donnie with all her might.

She let go of him and ran towards the main part of the lab, shouting:

"METAL HEAD! GET MY CHEMISTRY EQUIPTMNT!"

Donnie laughed and looked at his daughter's, running, figure, full of pride.


	4. Break Through

laughter.

That was now the thing that echoed through the sewers. Dan liked it. Firing cheesy references between himself and Daniel with this older cousins, laughing, in the background felt much better than the suffocating silence that he and his twin usually sat through, or the arguing that induced whenever they broke that silence.

Dan led the Ruths into the lair and let them be nostalgic as they looked around their old play area.

"Dan!" Raph shouted, making said teen jump, "Did you bring human down he-... Ella? Daniel? Dove?"

The hotheaded turtle smiled.

"When did you three move back here?" He asked

"The beginning of the year," Ella responded, sheepishly.

"Sorry for not coming over sooner." Daniel apologized.

"It's alright squirt," Raph reassured him, putting an arm around the small human.

"KIDS! GET IN HERE!" He called.

"WHAT DAD!?" Rhonda shouted back, sounding irritated, "I'M BUSY YELLING AT GEORGE FOR BEING AN ***HOLE TO DAN!"

Dan felt a little warm knowing that the salamandiran had stood up for him.

"YELL AT HIM LATER!" Rhonda's dad responded.

Rhonda and George marched into the room, glaring at each other. The shorter of the two broke eye contact in order to look at her dad and when she saw the humans, her eyes went wide.

"Hi, guys." They waved.

The mutant, dressed in a turquoise crop top and yellow shorts, squealed and ran over to throw her navy arms around them. She squeezed all three of them and lifted them off the floor at the same time. The human siblings looked bewildered. They had forgotten how strong their short friend was.

Cody and Bree ran into the room, followed by the adults.

"We heard the squeal!" Cody stated, "What's going on?"

The teen's eyes widened the same way Rhonda's had at the sight of their old friends.

"BREE!" Dove shouted with glee, running to give her a hug.

"DOVE!" Bree did the same.

The two nerdy girls jumped around in each other's embrace, happily. They used to be best friends when they were younger. They loved playing around with Donnie and his equipment (at least the stuff he allowed them to touch). Dove pulled away and gave her a huge grin.

"So, how's the new leader doing?" she asked, making Bree blush.

"Who told you?" The younger asked bashfully.

"Dan," Dove answered.

Dan sized up and turned red. Thankfully, no one was looking at him so he wasn't totally embarrassed.

"Well, enough about that." Bree continued, brushing the whole 'leader' thing off and starting to drag her friend into the lab, "Come on. I wanna show you something."

They exited the room, leaving the remaining two siblings, the adults, Dan, Cody, and George.

Speaking of George, he, unsurprisingly, did not seem to share everyone's enthusiasm. Instead, he gave them a small 'welcome back' and wandered off once more, leaving Cody to dance around them happily. Leo frowned in thought.

Was he always this distant?

...

"Woah." Dove breathed.

Bree had just finished explaining the 'kind of' mutagen to the young adult and she was just as amazed as she had been.

"I know!" Bree smiled.

"Have you thought of what you're gonna do with it?" Dove asked, not taking her eyes off of the canister.

Bree nodded.

"Loads. I've already run a few tests and figured out how to make it slightly mutational but it's much more controlled." She explained.

"Controlled?" Dove asked.

"Yeah. It's far more stable then mutagen made in dimension X so, in theory, we would be able to change an organism by introducing certain cells and get a far more reliable result or even hone in on already existing cells. Actually, if this was possible then I might be able to turn us humaaaaaa-" Bree cut herself off.

Her face looked like her mind had just exploded inside her head.

"Holy mother of all science I MIGHT BE ABLE TO TURN US HUMAN!"

Dove's eyes widened.

"Really?! How?!" She asked.

"I don't know but I'm gonna find out and YOU'RE gonna help me!" Bree announced.

She ran over to a closet and pulled out a white lab coat, making Dove let out a small gasp. The perky redhead presented the old lab coat to her friend with a bright smile.

"Welcome back lab partner!" Bree said.

Dove threw the lab coat on, smiling like a mad woman, and offered Bree a high five/three.

"Let's do this!" She said.

Bree smacked her hand with her own and the two teens got to work.

...

"WHAT'S SHAKIN LOSERS!" Katie called, with as much flair as possible, as she entered the lair with a giggling Amber balanced on her hip.

"KATIE!"

The girl jumped at the enthusiasm behind her name and was imidietly tackled by two teens, a shorter boy and a taller girl. Wait a minute...

She looked up at the other girls face.

"Ella?" She asked.

Ella looked her in the eye and smiled. Katie's chest exploded with excitement. She put a hand on the younger boy's head and looked down at him.

"Daniel!?"

The boy tilted his head upward, doing the same as his older sister.

"OH MY GOD!" Katie squeezed the two of them, "It's been way too long!"

Amber gave a small squeak from inside the group hug, causing her cousins to step back and look at her. Ella stared at the young girl. She started to smile... then grin... than squeal.

"OH MY GOD! Little Amber!? I haven't seen you since you were a baby!" The 18-year old exclaimed.

"Oh." Amber responded, "Okay... who are you?"

The little girl cocked her head to the side as she said this, making the older humans laugh.

"We're your cousins," Daniel told the 10-year-old.

Amber's face lit up.

"Like my friends?" Amber asked, referring to the turtle hybrids.

Daniel grinned.

"Yup." He replied, popping the 'p'.

Katie chuckled again.

"Anyway, where's Dov-"

"BREAKTHROUGH!" A loud shout came from the lab and two nerdy teens burst out at the same time.

"Never mind, found her." Katie smirked.

"Why the shell is it so loud out here?" George grumped, sultering into the room, the adults following.

"OMG! DOVE AND I JUST HAD THE BIGGEST BREAKTHROUGH OF THE CENTURY!" Bree exclaimed.

"So we herd." Donnie smiled.

"We just fineshed testing a new substance we were given and you WONT BELIVE what we found!" Dove continued, "Oh hi Katie."

"Yo."

"And what is this 'break through' of your's?" Monalisa asked.

The two teens smiles broadened.

"So! We were talking about this new substance and it's properties when I got the idea 'What if I could control a mutation?'." Bree began, grabbing everyone's attention.

"So we fiddled around somemore, modified it to hone in on human cells and then..."

Dove showed everyone a small vile of purple ooze. She held it up for a few moment, letting everyone look at it, before handing it to Bree. The slightly shorter teen took the tube in her right hand and, carefully, poured a single drop of it onto her left. Everyone held their breath, not knowing what would happen in the slightest, and let their jawes drop as they watched what happened.

Bree's hand turned to a light, pinky-orange, skin tone as two of the fingers duplicated and slimmed out like her thumb and wrist, leaving her with a, five fingered, HUMAN hand. Bree wiggled her fingers and squeezed them into a fist, admiring the normality of the gesture. It was only a minute or so before the effect wore off, though, and they watched the human apendege become lost within Bree's naturally mutant like hand.

"YOU CAN CHANGE US HUMAN!?" Cody yelled, clearly exited.

"Only for a short period." Bree said, looking down.

"But we came up with an amazing idea!" Dove cut in, "If we can add an electomagnetic charge to each of the substance's molecules, all we have to do is create a device that injects it into your skin every minute and you can be completely human for prolonged periods of time!"

Bree smiled a little, regaining her composure.

"We call them: Temporary Mutantion Devices. Or TMDs for short." Bree added.

"Bree..." Donnie breathed.

The girl held her breath. Her father's face was unreadable... it scared her.

"This is... amazing." He stared to smile.

"I can't belive you two came up with this in a few hours." Karai praised them.

"Awesome job little Dudetts!" Mikey cheered, Cody joining in with a 'whoop'.

Dove and Bree broke into grins as the other's started showering them in congratulations and questions.

"How long do you think it'll take to make?" Dan asked.

Bree smiled at him, unaware of the blush on both of their cheeks.

"A few months. The idea is still premature but, at this rate, it'll be much easier then we enitaily thought." Bree answered.

Dan nodded and let Katie rip her attention away from him as he fell into thought.


	5. Match Maker

"Home work sucks."

"So I've herd." Dan responded by default.

Katie looked at her brother through narrowed eyes and a raised eyebrow. It wasn't unusual for her twin to brush her off like that but he didn't even roll his eyes or sigh disapointedly at her comment. He simply continued to stare at the floor, eyes clearly lost in thought as they walked, side by side, through the hallways of their school.

"So, what was so important that you spent the entire geography class staring off into space?" She asked him.

Dan pressed his lips into a thin line and turned a little red.

"You noticed." He replied.

It stung a little that Dan thought she didn't pay attention to him but she quickly covered it up.

"I always notice when the nerd isn't being a nerd." She informed him through a snarky smile.

"Ha ha." Dan fake laughed, rewarding his twin with an eye roll before continuing, "I'm trying to come up with where we should take the guys when Bree and Dove finish the TMD's."

Katie hummed. That made sense. They definitely wanted it to be special.

"Probably doesn't help that we don't know when they'll be done, huh?" Katie guessed.

Dan nodded.

"Exactly. I also just can't find the right occasion." Dan began his rant, "A resteraunt would be nice and the time is manageable but it's not big enough. The carnavle would be amazing but it ends in three weeks so we'll probably miss it. I want them to have a really good time but nothing fiii-"

The boy's black converse stopped at the same time as his sentence, causing Katie stop as well. He turned to face the thing that had caught his attention, a poster. It was well made but not profesional (probably designed by a student) and had the words 'End of Year Dance. Bring your friends.' in beautiful cursive letters.

"I think I found our event." Dan anounced, happily.

Katie's face became dull.

"The school dance? Lame." Katie bluntly voiced her distaste.

"Oh, come on Katie." Dan began, "It's perfect! It's not for afew months which will, both, give Dove and Bree time to finish the TMD's AND give Rhonda time to make us outfits, cuz you KNOW she's going to insist."

"Besides," Dan smirked, "I'm sure RYDER would LOVE to be your date."

"Oh come on!" Katie whined, "You know I can't say no to that!"

"Exactly." Dan smiled in victory, "Now come on."

Dan grabbed her hand and dragged the girl toward their next class.

...

Bree agresivly tapped her fingers against her desk as she waited for the school day to be over. She couldn't wait for Dove to get out of class. She tried her best to get as much done on the TMD's as she could but, on the other hand, she had to run things by Dove so that she was on the same page. At least her lab partner was getting work done at home and school but, to be honest, that just made her more impassient because she wanted to know what Dove had figured out in her absence.

The teen's thought were interrupted by a small knock. Bree turned her attention to the door where George stood awkwardly, as if he didn't know what to do once he had her attention.

"Hey George." Bree greeted him, "What's up?"

Her shorter cousin shrugged.

"You're not busy are you?" He asked.

"Nope." She replied.

"Cool. Um." George sratched the back of his neck. Bree had never seen him this nervous, "Do you think you could help me with somthing?"

Bree was about to ask what he needed her help with when her phone rung and her eyes snapped to the device. She held up a finger as to say 'one second', pressed 'answer', and brought the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey Bree!" Katie greeted, "Is it cool if me, Dan and Amber come over after school with Dove? Dan has an idea."

"Of course!"

"Good. We'll be there as soon as posible. Seriously, Dan is a total dork when he's exited."

"I HEARD THAT!" Bree heard Dan's voice in the background as she hung up with a giggle.

She turned back to George.

"Sorry. What was it you need help with?" She asked him.

George stood still for a few moments, face unreadable, before shaking his head.

"Never mind. It's not important."

Bree frowned.

"Are you sure?" She pressed.

George nodded, she gave a small nod as well.

"Okay."

George turned around to leave.

"Joji?" Bree called.

George stopped in the doorway. Bree only used his japonease name when it was serious talk time.

"You know where to find me if you need anything." She told him.

George hummed. He was going to leave it at that but decided to give her more.

"Thanks." He said.

Bree smiled as he walked away.

...

"Does anyone know why Dan is being a huge dork?" Rhonda asked, looking around at her cousins.

"When is he ever not a dork." George replied, earning a small snort from his strong cousin.

"Stop trying to talk about behind my back." Dan marched in, with Katie in toe, looking grumpy, "Seriously, you're really bad at it."

George shrugged, completely indifferent about the situation.

"So." Bree grinned, "What's the idea?"

"O-oh uh, well..." Dan stumbled over his words. He cleared his throat and tried again, "i-i-in two months our, uh.. our school is having, um, a dance."

Rhonda perked up.

"Dance?" She echoed.

"Yyyyyyyup!" Katie confirmed, "I personally think it's stupid but Dan insisted that we run it by you guys before brushing it off."

"Brushing it off as what?" George asked, not catching on.

"As the first event you guys go to in your human forms." Dan clarified.

"YES!" Rhonda pumped her fists in the air, "YES YES YES! I'LL GET STARTED ON OUTFITS RIGHT AWAY! THIS IS GONNA BE PERFECT!"

"Shell yeah it is!" Cody agreed, "I was born to dance yo!"

Cody grabbed Rhonda's hands and spun her around. The short girl laughed and danced around with Cody like there was no tomorrow. Bree laughed happily and turned to Dan.

"It's a great idea Dan!"

"T-thanks." Dan replied, his stutter surfacing again.

"Dan?" Amber tugged on his baggy pants, "Are you going to the dance with someone?"

"NOPE!" Katie answered for him, "You're look'n at the most single guy on the planet!"

"KATIE!" Dan yelled, his voice giving an adorable crack.

Bree's happy giggling continued as she watched her crush chase around his twin sister. Apon hearing that Dan was going to the dance alone, Amber's adorable face twisted into a mischivious smile as she turned and walked up to Cody, who had maneged to get George to dance with Rhonda. He saw the look on her face and imediatly knew what was going on.

"Let me guess." Cody smiled, "You have a plan to get Dan's head out of his butt and you need my help."

Amber nodded with a perky 'Mmmhm!'.

"I'm in."

Little did these pure children know, they weren't the only one's planning on playing match maker.

...

Katie ran through the crowded halls as she made her way tword Basketball practice. She always looked forward to blowing off steam with her seacond favorite gal pal (after Bree) but today, she was especially exited.

"BRIT!" Katie called as she burst into the changing room.

If it was anyone else, Katie's loud enthusiasm would have shocked the girl but Brittany was WAY to used to her friend's intensity to be startled.

"What's up?" The African amarican girl asked as she adjusted her poofy pigtails.

Katie smiled wide.

"I found you a date for the dance!" She told her.

Britany gave a whole hearted laugh.

"I thought we agreed you'd stop trying to hook me up with people." She teased.

"Never." Katie shot back, "Do you wanna hear about her or not?"

Britany chuckled and nodded, earning a grin from the other black haired girl.

"Okay!" Katie began, clapping her hands together, "Her name is Rhonda. She's super short and super sweet."

"Aw, cute."

"Uh huh, she's also a martial artist and sews in her free time."

"Damn."

"You don't know the half of it. So what do ya think?" Katie asked, "Think you'd be interested?"

"Yeah, why not?" Britany shrugged and smiled, "She seems like a cool chick. Her name sounds familiar though... Ah! I remember. She's one of those 'mysterious friends' you never tell me about."

"Oh yeah! The're all coming actually." Katie told her.

"Finaly." Britany joked, "I thought I'd never get to meet them. Tell Rhonda I'm look'n forward to being her plus one 'kay?"

"You bet."

The two athletic girls shared a fist bump before heading off to the gym.


	6. Deep thoughts and friendly distractions

A holow silence swept through the whole lair. This was it. The TDMs were done and tested. Now, all they had to do was put them on and change. The four mutant teens stood in a circle, each holding a small, Oreo sized device with small needles on one side. Bree and George had tawels wrapped around their bodies for when their shell's dissapeared. They shivered at that thought. Their parents all stood around them, Mikey even held Cody's hand. Bree gave her parents a single glance before turning to her cousins.

"On three?" She asked.

The others nodded.

"One." She began.

"Two." Everyone exposed an area of skin on their sides.

"Three." They thrusted the TDMs to their sides, needles sinking into their skin and activating.

They all felt their bodies begin to change. It was like a strong rippling throughout every cell. They all squeezed their eyes shut at the burning that coursed through them. A blur of black hair, who Bree assumed was Katie, shot out of the crowed of adults and hugged Bree tight as she morphed.

The burning stopped and Bree looked up. Her newly skin coloured face went bright red as she saw grey eyes looking back at her... but they weren't Katie's.

"A-are you okay?" Dan stuttered at lightning speed, looking into her maghony eyes.

Bree tried to open her mouth and respond. Insted, she felt a odd growth placed above her upper lip and froze. A familiar, five fingared, hand rose up and touched the bump on her face. A nose. She looked down at her body. Not much had changed other then her skin and shape of her legs. Just then she relised that she was shirtless and covered only by the tawel she had wrapped around herself, Dan noticed too and both of them turned red. Dan turned around covering his eyes.

"Sorry!" He squeeked.

"It's fine." Bree responded, tugging the tawel up.

Her parents rushed over to her. They began asking if it had hurt her as they admired her new form. While they did this, Bree took time to look at her cousins.

Cody looked almost exactly the same, with the exception of his skin tone, nose, ears and usually four fingered hands which he seemed intreeged by as he wiggled his five fingers in front of his face.

Rhonda, still wearing her pink, long sleeved, unitard, now had slightly tan skin and hair that took the original shape of her head. Her eyes were still green but now looked entirely human and she had a small button nose, much like Cody's. She ran a hand through her new hair in wonder.

George was almost unrecognisable. He had pale, slightly yellow, skin much like his mother's, and straight black hair that hung an inch off his head. He seemed to be having some trouble tightening the tawel around his waist with his human hands now that he didn't have a shell to broaden his waist. Karai walked over to him and helped him fold the tawel around his thin but muscular body.

"Thanks mom." George smiled up at her a little.

Karai ruffled her son's new hair and matched his smile.

Bree smiled and turned back to her parents.

"Can I have a mirror?" She asked them, to which they handed her a small, hand held, mirror.

Bree tucked a lock of orange hair behind her new ears, they looked just like her mom's, so did her nose. Light freckles peppered her cheeks as she pushed them up, along with her lips, to reveal her teeth. Her gap was still there but it was much smaller, due to her now repressed mutant DNA. She liked her new face. She also didn't notice how Dan was staring at her... but Cody did.

...

Well... Dan was back to staring intensely at the floor non stop.

He didn't know what had happened. Bree always made him nervous but, for some reason, seeing her human had hit him the wrong way. It's not that he didn't like her human form, it was cute... wait. ARG! Never mind, back to the point. It was nice, it just wasn't... Bree? No, it definitely was Bree. It just wasn't HIS Bree. NOT THAT THE MUTANT ONE WAS HIS! He definitely did NOT own Bree!

"Dude, are you okay?" One of Dan's friends (well... mostly Katie's) asked him, her pink, braided, hair grabbing his attention.

"Oh, hi Rose." Dan greeted the black skirt wearing girl, "Yeah, just lost in thought."

Rose hummed. Her pale, freckled face, did not look satisfied with that answer but she decided not to press too hard.

"Wanna come sit with the gang? It's been a while. We miss you man." Rose offered.

Dan smiled a little, it was nice knowing they noticed his absence at the table.

"Thanks but I'm supposed to eat lunch with my cousins." He told her.

"Bring em' along." Rose shrugged.

Dan blinked.

"Really?"

"Why not? Introduce us why don't cha'?" Rose smiled.

Dan didn't really know how to respond. Eventualy he just nodded, causing Rose to grin.

"Sweet. See ya later man." She said before walking away with a small wave.

... okay, first his cousins show up out of no where and now the group that he follows around like a lost puppy are actually interested in being his friends!? The only thing that could possibly make this better was... Dan's face went red.

Nononononono! Don't think about that! Bad imagination!

There was no way that was going to happen. He just had to keep telling himself that and eventualy it would sink in... eventualy.

Whatever. Just focus on making friends.

Dan asked Ella and Dove to sit with him and Katie's gang at lunch. They were exited, to put it simply. Dove asked if she could bring her boyfriend, Milo, to which Dan promptly answered with a surprised and enthusiastic 'YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND!?'. Dove smiled brightly and nodded. Dan smiled as well.

"That sounds great." He told her.

The three teens said their goodbyes and wandered off to their classes.

...

Dan walked through the crowds of chattering teens, getting bumped every once in a while, with Dove, Ella and Milo. Milo was around his cousins age and was tall, but not as tall as Bree's Dad, with lanky limbs; he had black hair that got a little spiky on the left side, blue eyes and wore a yellow t-shirt with faded jeans and big yellow shoes. He seemed nice enough but Dan wouldn't lie that his flirty nature around Dove made him a bit uncomfortable.

"Dan! Over here!" Rose's voice called.

The boy turned his head in the direction of the loud teen and saw her waving at him from across the lunch room with her, bright green-haired, brother, Joseph. From what Dan could see of the freckled boy, Josheph was wearing a bright smile, like his sister, as well as a white shirt with green sleaves to match his hair. Dan weaved back, shyly, and began making his way over to the table of seven people.

As he got closer, Dan recognized two of them as Lilly and Kathrine Reo. They were around the same pale skin tone and shade of raven hair. Kathrine was a little taller then Lilly and they both sported blue t-shirts with Lilly wearing a white long sleeve underneath and Kathrine wearing a black one. Lilly's shirt also had a ying yang symbol on the front. Dan doubted that they were the ones who Rose had claimed missed him. The Reo sisters wern't mean to him but they never really paid him much mind. Dan was pretty sure the only reason they sat with the group was because they were cousins with Rose and Joseph. But at least they came at all. Their younger brother didn't even bother showing up.

Of course, Katie was there with her boyfriend and girl buddy, Britany. The well muciled girl gave him a small smile with her plump lips as Ryder got up and pat him on the back. Ella tensed as he did this. People that look like Ryder usualy aren't all that nice to people who look like Dan, pretty much everyone in her family knew this from personal experience.

"'Bout time Dan." Ryder grinned, "Thought you were board of us."

A few people at the table giggled and Dan nervously joined in, it was nervous but it was sincere.

"S-sorry about that." Dan started, rubbing the back of this neck, "U-um, these are my cousins Ella and Dove. Milo is Dove's boyfriend."

"Welcome to the radest group of people in the school, ma dude." Joseph grinned, offering Milo a fist bump.

Milo let out a small laugh and excepted the shorter boy's fist bump, making Dove smile.

"Thanks." He said.

The four teens sat down at the table and Rose cleared her throat. Her face became unnaturally serious as she looked everyone in the eye, one by one.

"Now..." She deadpaned, "Down to business."

She slammed her her skinny hands on the table, making Dove, Ella, and Milo jump. Even Dan flinched a bit and he was used to Rose's unesisary extraness. The girl raised one of her pale hands off the table and pointed at Katie.

"YOU ARE COMING TO THE DANCE!" She insisted, "I REFUSE TO LET YOU MISS OUT ON DANCING AROUND WITH US LIKE A DORK AND HAVING AN AMAZING NIGHT JUST BECAUSE YOUR TOMBOY ARSE REFUSES TO WEAR A DRESS!"

"What she said!" Josheph added.

"Preach!" Britany threw her hands in the air, earning a giggle from Kathrine and Lilly, both Asian girls pressed their mouths into a thin line to stop from smiling.

Katie shrugged.

"Sure, I wasn't planning on skipping." She adressed, nonshalantly.

"AHA!" Rose continued, "I THOUGHT YOU'D SAY THA- wait what?"

"Dan already convinced me, sorry Ro." Katie said.

And, just like that, all eyes were on Dan. The boy froze up, unsure of how to react to his freind's unreadable faces.

"Way to go Dan!" Dove clapped, Ella quickly joining in.

Pretty soon, everyone at the table was cheering for the red faced boy, while Katie sulked at how big of a deal it was. Ryder put an arm around her shoulder and gave her a cocky grin.

"So. What was it that convinced you?" He asked.

Katie grinned back, eyes narrow and eyebrows raised. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'll never tell." She teased.

The table exploded into laughter as Joseph gaged and Rose covered her eyes dramatically.

"WHY MUST YOU ROB US OF OUR INOSENTCE!" She wailed.

"You've been proven guilty of too many pranks to be inosent you two." Britany joked.

"Ouch!" Joseph leaned back with a hand on his heart

"I came here to have a good time but I honestly feel so attacked right now." Rose spoke.

Dan doesn't remember too much after this because he choked on his juice from laughing too hard and Ryder had to resuscitate him...

Good times.


	7. Here we go

p id="docs-internal-guid-30713e2c-7fff-8fd5-67d9-645a31e98e06" dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I don't know about this..." Bree said to no one as she tugged at the straps to her purple dress. /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rhonda had done a good job at restraining herself when it came to designing her dress. Bree didn't usually like clothes but, she'll admit, she really liked her new dress. It was simple but elegant. Just right./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Come one Bree, you're gonna look great!" Katie encouraged her./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bree let out a shuddering breath and stepped out of her room, revealing herself to her best friend. Katie smiled wide. She wore a navy blue, sleeveless, blouse and tuxedo pants as well as a brighter green tie and a matching half skirt that flowed behind her, not touching the ground, but exposing her pants, courtesy of Rhonda. She wore her hair down and was wearing a few rope bracelets on her wrists. For a tomboy, she really knew how to look good in fancy clothes./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You look really good." Bree complimented her./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Daw." Katie fake blushed, "Thank's, B. So do you! I mean, who knew you could rock a plain purple dress so hard."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Told ya!" Rhonda boasted as she strutted out of her room wearing a green dress with a red skirt, that stopped at her knees and had several vine-like patterns decorating the bottom. She even wore a rose in her brown hair to match the bottom half of her outfit./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You're all so pretty!" Cody gushed, bouncing in his brown dress shoes./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He had an orange vest on and a black bow tie as he skipped over to them with Amber who wore a short grey dress accented with bronze bands stretching, horizontally, across the top, belt, and the bottom of it./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"George fussed with his light blue tie, unsure of how to do it properly./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Um... do you want some-" Dan started./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"George cut him off by forcing the tie in his direction, causing the older teen to jump. Dan shakily took the tie and wrapped it around the smaller boy's neck. He tied it neatly and tucked it into George's black suit top before lifting his hands away and making unsure jazz hands./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""T-ta da." He laughed nervously at his own pour attempt at brightening the mood./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"George stared at him blankly for a minute before turning to a mirror and admiring Dan's handy work. He tugged it a bit, loosening it, and Dan silently cursed himself for making it too tight./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""... Thanks." George said./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dan's eyes snapped to his usually passive aggressive friend. He wasn't being sarcastic... the sincerity in his dull voice felt strange. George had been treating him and Katie considerably better recently and it was both comforting and a little unnerving. He couldn't figure out what had changed./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey." George's Dad poked his head into the living room, "You kids good to go?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Everyone responded to him in a chorus of 'yup's, 'uh huh's, and head nodding./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Okay... cool." Leo nodded./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He walked away for a few moments... and then Marissa ran into the room./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I CAN'T TAKE IT!" She wailed, "I NEED HUGS AND PICTURES!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After the outburst from the grey eyed woman, April instantly followed suit, rushing over to Bree and hugging her firmly, as Marissa gushed over the twins. Very soon, all the adults were smiling and taking pictures of the young mutants and humans./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"After convincing their parents to let them go, which took longer than expected, the seven kids climbed out of the sewers and met up with Ella, Daniel, and Dove. The youngest of the Ruth siblings wore a purple tuxedo while his sisters wore matching purple gowns, the only difference being that Dove had a grey cardagin on and her sister had a pink bow wrapped around her waist./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh my gosh! You look so good!" Dove gushed as she gave Bree a hug./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah!" Amber chirped, popping up from behind the older girls, "You're gonna look so nice dancing!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh." Bree laughed a little, "Thank you Amber but I don't really know how to dance."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Really?" Amber pretended to look surprised as Cody gave her a thumbs up from Bree's blind spot, "Dan can teach you! He's really good!"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Both teens tensed up. They stared at each other for a moment, their faces so flushed they could hear their own heart beats ringing in their ears./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Oh, um..." Bree started, tearing her eyes away from Dan, "He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to... I can get Cody to teach me."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry cuz." Cody piped up, stepping forward and taking his little buddy's hand, "Me and Amber are already gonna kill it together."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Yeah!" /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Cody scooped Amber off her feet and brought her up so she could put one arm around his shoulders and hold his hand with the other, putting them in a makeshift waltz position before they galloped away, dancing like the adorable dorks they were./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I..I can teach you if you want me to..." Dan stuttered, grabbing Bree's attention./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Bree looked at him once more./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""W-we'll see." Bree responded, trying to smile./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Dan nodded and wandered off to chat with Daniel./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;".../span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The group of teens approached the school. It was relativly large and well kept but obviously not top notch. You could almost see the party lights through the yellow bricks of the building but the music BOOMED from the place as if the school itself was the stereo./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"As they neared the building, Rhonda's eyes became fixated on the beautiful, tan skinned girl, wearing her hair in a poofy bun with a flower in it that matched her flowing blue dress, that leaned against a wall next to the entrance with Ryder./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Who is that?" Rhonda asked dreamily./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Katie smiled big./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""That's your date, Brittany."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rhonda whipped around to look at the older teen./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Date!?" She echoed, "You got me a date without asking me!?"/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Well yeah, if I had asked you you would have said no." Katie replied, "Go talk to her."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Rhonda's first instinct was to say no but... Brittany was very cute, and muscular too. She should at least get to know her./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""... Fine." She gave in, and shuffled over to her first date./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brittany turned her head toward the blushing girl and smiled./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Hey there. Rhonda, right?" She said, pushing off the wall./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Y-yeah."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Brittany's eyes glittered with understanding./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Don't worry." Brittany told Rhonda with a giggle , "I don't bite. It'll be fun."/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: -webkit-standard; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The teen just nodded with a far off look in her eye. Katie was satisfied./span/p 


End file.
